Tilak Raj Prabhakar was an Indian mathematician specializing in
special functions
Special functions are particular mathematical functions that have more or less established names and notations due to their importance in mathematical analysis, functional analysis, geometry, physics, or other applications.
The term is defined by ...
and
integral equation
In mathematical analysis, integral equations are equations in which an unknown function appears under an integral sign. In mathematical notation, integral equations may thus be expressed as being of the form: f(x_1,x_2,x_3,\ldots,x_n ; u(x_1,x_2 ...
s. In a paper published in 1971, he introduced a three-parameter extension of the
Mittag-Leffler function. Subsequently, this function was to found to have numerous applications in various areas of mathematics like
fractional calculus
Fractional calculus is a branch of mathematical analysis that studies the several different possibilities of defining real number powers or complex number powers of the differentiation operator D
D f(x) = \frac f(x)\,,
and of the integration ...
and also in certain areas of physics. The function has since been named "Prabhakar function" in honor of the person who had introduced it.
Education
Prabhakar secured his M.A. and B.A. degrees from the
Benaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...
(India) and obtained his Ph.D. from the
University of Delhi
The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
(India) in 1970 with a thesis on "Integral Equations and Special Functions".
Career
Initially he taught at the S.D. College in Muzzaffarnagar. Then he joined the Multani Mal Modi College in Modinagar where he became Head of the Department of Mathematics and later he moved to the Ramjas College of the University of Delhi. His was an untimely demise. He was professor of mathematics at the National Institute of Electricity and Electronics in Boomerdes (Algeria) when he died in 1982.
See also
*
Prabhakar function Prabhakar function is a certain special function in mathematics introduced by the Indian mathematician Tilak Raj Prabhakar in a paper published in 1971. The function is a three-parameter generalization of the well known two-parameter Mittag-Leffle ...
References
{{Indian mathematics
mathematicians
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
One ...
20th-century Indian mathematicians